Excerpt taken from Riding Accident Paralyzes Actor Christopher Reeve by Lois Rom

Question

Excerpt taken from Riding Accident Paralyzes Actor Christopher Reeve by Lois Romano of the Washington Post: Actor Christopher Reeve, best known for his role as Superman, is paralyzed and cannot breathe without the
help of a respirator after breaking his neck in a riding accident in Culpeper, Va. Reeve suffered fractures to the top two vertebrae, considered the most serious of cervical injuries.

Part 1: Which would be more life threatening, fracturing C1/C2 or C7/C8? Explain for full credit. (2pts)

Part 2: Which would be more life threatening, fracturing C1/C2 or T9/T10? Explain for full credit. (1pt)

Part 3: State one musculoskeletal disease that would increase a patient’s risk for spinal cord damage. (1pt)

Part 4: Based on your answer (#3, above) why would having that musculoskeletal disease increase a patients risk for
spinal cord damage? (1pt)

Explanation / Answer

Part 1. Fracture to C1/C2 is more life threating because the cervical nerves C1 and C2 innervate head and neck. A patient with a fracture of C1/C2 may not be able to breathe on his own and may result in complete paralysis. C1/C2 vertebrae fracturing may lead to constriction of blood vessels that pass to the head and clotting, leading to failure of blood supply to the brain. On the otherhand, C7 and C8 control arm movements. Therefore C7/C8 fracture is not life threating.

Part 2. T9/T10 fracture damages the thoracic nerves controlling abdominal muscles. Therefore it is less life threating than damage to C1/C2 which controls head and neck regions

Part 3 and 4: Osteoporosis is one of the musculoskeletal diseases which might increase the risk of spinal cord damage. The bones of the spine becomes weak due to osteoporosis (which occurs when too much calcium is dissolved from bone) which may cause vertebral fractures leading to spinal cord damage.

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